Canadian Defenseman Zayne Parekh is listed to go within the first eight picks of the NHL Draft but his size could make things complicated for betters.
The NHL draft quickly approaches on June 28th and to make things interesting, sportsbooks have posted betting odds for certain prospects and where they will land.
We spoke with the Hockey News’s OHL insider Jared Brown on highly anticipated prospects like Saginaw’s Zayne Parekh.
The Offensive Defenseman has interesting odds listed for where he will go in the draft. Brown offers his insights as he’s been in and around the game of hockey for most of his life and even attended the ISS Hockey Scouting Mentorship program. He has been covering the OHL since 2018 before joining the Hockey News, this past January.
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
Bet: Zayne Parekh Under 8.5 Draft Position (-130)
The right-handed blueliner has made his presence felt in junior hockey by putting up 33 goals and 96 points in 66 games as the top defenseman in OHL scoring.
Brown feels Parekh has the Scott Niedermayer mindset when playing as he never gets nervous or breaks down the way he plays even in the biggest of moments.
In the OHL playoffs, Parekh was out for four games but still put up almost a point per game with a pair of goals and nine assists in 13 games and finished with 56 shots on net, which was second-most on the team.
He continued to make plays during the Memorial Cup, where he finished with a goal and four assists in five games. Brown believes his game will translate to the NHL and gives him serious upside as he could be a big-time point producer at the pro level someday.
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“A team drafting the Canadian right-shot defenseman is getting a future catalyst along their blueline who can put up 60-70 points a season,” he said “One thing about Zayne is that no matter how big the game is, he doesn't seem to get nervous or change who he is.”
He draws comparisons to the likes of Erik Karlsson but the tricky thing is that despite being a rare right-handed shot, Brown notes he is undersized, which could make things complicated for his development.
“My prediction is he goes to Utah at No. 6 but he's not a big kid and that could have him slip outside of the top ten,” Brown said.
There is no doubt people love the Canadian defenseman of South-Korean and Indian decent as he ranks inside the top eight of prospect rankings by TSN’s Craig Button, Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy and EliteProspects’s consolidated rankings of more than 15 experts.
Brown agrees that whoever selects Parekh won’t be disappointed. Teams like the Blue Jackets, Ducks and Senators made up three of the bottom five teams in goals against average this past season and could really benefit from getting an elite defenseman, who can also produce on offense.
“Offensively, he is the most gifted defender available in the draft,” he said. “That alone should sway you to picking the under, but tread carefully.”